


Hello Again

by vvingblade



Series: our snapshots, our stories [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, Reunions, Spoilers, post kh3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 10:25:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17681675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vvingblade/pseuds/vvingblade
Summary: A new face (yet one that's somehow so very familiar) joins the Land of Depature.





	Hello Again

**Author's Note:**

> HUGE KH3 and Union X spoilers here, folks. Like, unrepentant spoilers. If you haven't played until the very end please don't read this.  
> [EDIT: Now a part of a series!]

Aqua has always found Ven's ability to make friends in such a short period rather impressive. It's not surprising though- Ven's smile and laughter is simply infectious, and he draws in everybody he meets with his warmth. He can visit a new world and leave with a whole _host_ of new friends.

But making one within the span of a minute has _got_ to be some sort of record.

Ventus had only lagged behind them all for just a minute, but when he catches up to them he's carrying what looks like a stuffed cat in his arms.

"Who's this, Ven?" Aqua's voice is considerably lighter than it had been minutes ago, when she'd bade their Master her final goodbye, and laid his memory to rest. 

Tears are no longer shining in her eyes, and Ven is grateful to see it. The goodbye had been hard on them all, and it was only expected that tears would be shed, but he still hates seeing his friends cry, hates how it tears at his heart even deeper.

Ven smiles down at the little cat, running a hand over it's head.

"A new friend."

The little cat squeaks, and shyly hides its face in Ven's neck. After a few seconds it dares to peek at Aqua, and then to Terra. Her answering smile and his nod seems to reassure it, and it perks up just a little more. It leans forward out of Ven's arms.

"H-Hello, miss, mister!" It waves. If Aqua or Terra are at all startled by the fact that it can talk, they don't show it. "My name is-"

"Chirithy."

Aqua, Terra, and the newly dubbed Chirithy pause to stare at Ventus. His face has gone carefully blank, the way it would back when his past would return in incomprehensible bits and pieces. His eyes are also dangerously dim- but after he blinks and shakes his head, the light has returned to them. He smiles down at Chirithy's shocked expression.

"That's your name, right? Chirithy. I don't know how I know that, but I do."

Chirithy stares at Ven a second more, before it seems to be overcome by emotion and surges up to affectionately butt it's head against Ven's chin, mewing happily. He laughs, hugging the little cat a bit harder to his chest, buries his face in between it's ears and breathes in it's cottony clean scent.

"I've missed you."

He's not sure where the words come from. He's not even entirely sure why they come out- because for all intents and purposes, this is his and Chirithy's first meeting. 

But he means it. He startles himself by how much he means it. He's _missed_ Chirithy, missed them like an extension of himself, feels a piece of himself he didn't know was missing fill with warmth at the familiar feeling of the cat in his arms.

Chirithy smiles and gazes up at Ven like it feels it too- that sense of completion.

"I've missed you too, Ventus."

________________

Chirithy is an enigma Aqua isn't entirely sure what to do with.

She doesn't think it's a threat, not at all. It's genuine in everything it says and does, helpful and eager and kind and polite and cheerful and so much like Ven that she often finds herself petting it's head in the same way she'd ruffle Ven's hair. It squeaks the same way Ven complains, drawing the same sort of laugh from deep within her. It even shares his snark and attitude.

It's blended in almost seamlessly to their new lives at the Land of Departure- as a friend to Ven's is a friend to Terra and Aqua as well. It only seems fitting that after everything a new smiling face joins their ranks. It totters after them with Ven's enthusiasm, bouncing frantically to keep pace. And when it's not on the ground it's riding on Ven's shoulders or atop his head.

It was hard not to warm up to the little cat when it dozes off in your lap during a movie, when it looks so genuinely pleased at praise that sometimes Aqua compliments Chirithy on pointless things just to hear it _chirrup_ happily, watch it shyly rub it's paws together as it flushed. It's a big help around the castle: when she bakes, it's always there to lend a hand by passing her ingredients, pre-heating the oven, holding the recipe book open so Aqua can read from it.

She knows Terra is just as charmed. He's already made it a Master's Mark to wear as they all do, declaring that a _"resident of the Land of Depature has got to wear the gear, right?"_ Chirithy wears it around it's neck with pride, the metal acting as a pin to keep it's cape in place and replacing the Munny pouch it once wore. She also caught him scooping up the cat in a hug as Chirithy giggled with excitement and kicked it's little legs.

Chirithy is suddenly a staple in their lives, and the situation is so dizzinglying similiar yet different from Ven's arrival to their world that she is sometimes hit by staggering dejavu. The two are joined at the hip, like they had always been that way. And Ven of course still splits his attention evenly three ways- more than that if you now counted his whole host of new friends in Roxas and Riku and Sora and Lea and all the others- but something about his connection with Chirithy seems deeper than that, and it sometimes gives Aqua pause.

It's got some clear connection to Ventus, to who he was before his arrival at the Land of Departure. It knew his name before he or Aqua or Terra ever shared it. It knew the name of his Keyblade in the same manner. And it knows so, _so_ much about the Keyblade.  
Sometimes it starts to say something, uses past tense in places where it makes no sense, before correcting itself or cutting itself off entirely. Like it knows some secret it simply cannot share. Sometimes it's things Ven reacts to- he jerked at one thing Chirithy said, when it offhandely mentioned a man named Gula-  only to quickly retract that statement when Ven seemed dangerously close to checking out the way he did when his memories began to contradict each other. Other times Ven seems just as confused as she is at the odd things Chirithy sometimes says.

And something tells her that it's history is even older than that, older than this land, older than even the _Master's Keyblade_. Like it's holding a trove of secrets within it. Something about it just feels ancient, like she's staring right at a relic of the past.

And ever since it's arrival, she's started to get the same feeling whenever she gazes at Ven.

________________

He's sitting on the grass in the Courtyard during the night, having bade Aqua and Terra goodnight early on, yet found that sleep still attempted to elude him. He's starting to wonder if it always will, always dancing away from him as if in retaliation for the years he spent sitting and silent. _(With the nightmares he's been suffering, he's not sure if its a blessing or a curse. Every now and again he battles them off, with the support of some energy that he can never quite place in his dreams, but he knows is an ally. )_

He's staring up at the night sky and watching the stars twinkle, each a world and a world away, and idly wonders if the star he's watching is a world he's visited before. Chirithy is resting is his lap, enjoying the feeling of Ven's fingers rubbing behind an ear, humming a soft tune Ven feels is for him more than Chirithy.

Chirithy. Ven's not sure how he knows it, but he does. He feels like he's known Chirithy for a long time- longer than Terra and Aqua, longer than his time as an apprentice Xehanort even. Knows somehow that Chirithy, _this_ Chirithy, is his and his alone. Chirithy makes him want to remember what he's sure simply isn't there anymore, and digging too hard makes his head spike with unbearable pain. He'd learned to leave it be.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't want to know. And he knows that Chirithy knows- about him, who he is ( _was_ ), where he came from.

"Hey, Chiri."

"Hmmm?" It looks up, little ears flopping over. While intially startled by the nickname Terra saddled it with _("Ventus is too big for Ven, yknow? And Chirithy is a bit big for you. Chiri fits a lil better.")_ it quickly warmed up to it, even following Ven's lead and happily requesting that it be called Chiri more often than not.

Ven chews his lower lip before he answers. He knows Chiri is keeping things him, but he doubts it's out of malice. And he hates putting his new friend in an undoubtedly uncomfortable position.

But he still has to ask.

"If you knew anything about me, things about who I was before...and I wanted to know...you'd tell me, right?"

Chiri stiffens.

"Even if I wouldn't really remember it... you'd still tell me? And you'd be honest with me?"

Chiri is silent for a few long seconds. When it answers, it's looking down at it's paws and rubbing them together nervously.

"If...if I was keeping anything from you," it begins, slowly and carefully, "it would only be because I want to protect you. Because I wouldn't want to hurt you. Because maybe those memories and those places and those people are gone, and trying to find them would just hurt you more..."

Ven considers that. A younger him would have plowed forth, demanding his memories because they were _his_ , and he deserved them, no matter how tough or how painful. Because they were his.

But Ven has grown up, and he's not that compulsive child anymore. He's learned that memories aren't always a blessing to have, and some are better locked away where they can't hurt you. Memories aren't always more important than he hurt they'd cause.

But these...these feel important. Vitally so. Like it's a huge piece in an even bigger puzzle, and Ven hates the feeling of knowing he's a big part of it. A puzzle that looms just over his head. He thinks it over.

"Maybe I'm not ready for those memories right now. But when I am, and the time is right...you'll tell me. Right?"

Chiri relaxs, and turns around to look at Ventus. It nods.

"Of course. When the time is right."

Ven supposes that's all he can ask for. He picks Chiri up to again bury his face between it's ears, an action he's not sure how he picked up, but feels he's done a million times before.

"Thank you, Chiri."

"Of course Ven. What are friends for?"

And somehow, that sparks something from inside him, makes something flare to life like a match being struck-

_(He's sitting in his room alone as per usual, knees tucked to his cheeks and burying his face in them- while the rest of the Union cheers and parties on downstairs, celebrating their top week ranking. He doesn't deserve to be down there. He'd performed horribly the entire week, dragging them down and collecting so little Lux it was laughable. His team was disappointed in him. He didn't care about that so much- he was always an average ranker and had no friends to speak of._

_The disappointment in Master Gula's eyes was what made something inside him wither and turn black at the edges, like burned paper. Master_  
_Gula believed in him. Had faith in him._

_How could he have let him down? Tears burn in his eyes when the memory of Master Gula's face flashes in his mind._

_'I'm so sorry Master, I'll do better, I promise...'_

_"It's ok Ventus," his Chirity reassures, patting his knee. It's the only other inhabitant of the room, having chosen to stay here with Ventus than join his Union or it's fellow Chirithys in the festivities downstairs. "You just had a bad week. It'll be better next week, and you'll show them!"_

_Ventus sniffs. "It doesn't matter. Master Gula is mad at me. He won't want me as his apprentice anymore..."_

_Chirithy huffs, before bouncing up to stand on Ventus's knees._

_"Don't be silly! Master Gula wouldn't dismiss you for something so small. He choose you for a reason, remember! You're gonna do somethin' real important one day! Ranking or no ranking."_

_"You don't know that," Ventus whispers into his knees. Chirithy hums._

_"Maybe I don't. But I do know that you shouldn't let this be where you stop! You've got so much potential Ventus, outside of the rankings! And so what if Master Gula dismisses you- I know you're gonna do great things someday. Even without the Leopardus Union. The others may not be able to see it, but I can. I believe in you, Ventus."_

_There's a few seconds of silence, and finally, a watery blue eye peeks up._

_"....you really mean that?"_

_Chirithy nods fervently._

_"Of course I do."_

_Ventus sniffs, rubs at his eyes, and finally uncurls himself. As soon as his lap is available, the Dream Eater bounds into it and wraps it's little arms around Ventus's waist in the best hug it can manage. Ventus's arms wrap around Chirithy in return- before picking it up to bury his face between it's ears._

_"Thanks, Chirithy."_

_"Of course Ventus. What are friends for?"_

_Ventus's head jerks up, staring down at Chirithy with wide eyes._

_"You... we're friends?"_

_"Of course we are! Don't you think?"_

_Ventus is not the most cheerful person- he's a surprisingly somber and quiet boy, who kept to himself. Chirithy watched him often, as it's charge, and obemoaned how often it's boy was alone. How little he smiled._

_But the smile that breaks across the young wielder's face now is one Chirithy will remember forever. It's small but so full of genuine warmth and happiness that Chiri feels warm in turn just being graced by it._

_"...yeah. Yeah, we're friends." )_

The memory is there and then gone, like the match had been blown out, but he can still feel the vestiges of it clinging to his mind. Like if he digs a bit more he can uncover it again.

"Mrrrr?" Chirithy is staring up at him, confused by his sudden blank expression and silence. Ven blinks away the now foggy scraps of memory to smile down at his ( _Dream Eater_ ) friend.

"Just felt like...nevermind. Don't worry about it. Let's head in."

"Feeling tired?" Chiri perks up. Ven hasn't been sleeping, and it knows it.

Ven considers it- and is surprised to in fact feel tired, truly tired, the kind a good rest could fix. He yawns as if to confirm, and stands. Chiri wastes no time in bounding up to settle on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm thinking it's time for bed. And you know how Aqua gets when we sleep in the coutyard without a blanket...Let's turn in, Chiri."

"Of course!" It yawns, a tiny little mewl of a sound, before resting it's head atop Ven's. "Lead the way."

Ven begins the trek back to the castle, ready for a long rest. Somehow he knows that Chiri will be there to help him battle his nightmares. Like Chiri has been there the last few times to help him best them. It's another thing he just knows, without any confirmation or proof. Just like the scraps of people and places and things.

It's not something he's so worried about anymore. Once upon a time those things has bothered him, and he'd scraped and fought to regain his memories of a life that he'd passed by.  
But he knows better now. Knows those memories can't help him now, even if they can later. He can always retrieve them later.

For now though?

For now, he's more concered with the memories he _will_ make. With Aqua and Terra, with Sora and Roxas, will all his new friends-

And now with Chiri.

And no matter how important those old memories were to him, these _new_ ones are the ones he knows he will hold most dear to his heart.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'M SO FUCKING SHOOK THAT THEY GAVE VEN BACK HIS CHIRITHY.
> 
> I also HC that Ven was Leopardus Union and Gula took Ven on as his personal apprentice. I'm taking that HC to the grave with me.
> 
> Also no Terra P.O.V bc i cant really get a handle on my writing voice for him. Next time tho!


End file.
